Vol. XLIV. No. 1828 
NEW YORK, FEBRUARY 7, 1885 
PRICE FIVE CENTS 
*2.00 PER YEAR. 
[Entered according to Act of Congress, In the year 1385, by the Rural New-Yorker in the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.] 
ites with people who accustomed themselves to 
their use. Only one had any seeds, and this 
bore only two very tbin seeds about five- 
eighths of an inch long and three eighths wide. 
We also received, about December 1, from 
Geo. C. Rixford, of Florida, a box contain¬ 
ing a few specimens, among which was an 
oblong variety called Tauneuaski, a likeness 
of which is shown at Fig. 48. In color, skin 
and flesh, as well as in flavoi*, it was nearly 
identical with the others. 
We also received, on 
January 5, 1885, from 
Essex Co , Va , a box tev s. 
containing a persim- 
mon of the Kaki spe- ( Illiw 1 
cies,grown by William 
Campbell on a tree 
four years old, which ^ 
bore 100 persimmons, 
all of them seedless. 
We think there is an 
opening for this fruit, 
both for preserving y&ji£/, 
and for use fresh, and 
that it is worth the 
-UK of our Southern 
to carefully 
should be tried very 
cautiously by people £; ^i99H9 
liv.UK north of the 
latitude of Philadel- ; ..... 
phia or Washington. 
The fruit of the Dios- . • 
pyros Kaki also goes 
by the name of the 
Chinese Date Plum. 
This species and the 
Diospyros Yirginiana, 
so well known in this x**’ 
country as the persim- 
mon, are the principal ' 
species of the genus Japanese Persimmon Tauneuaski, 
bearing edible fruit. 
have yet to determine. Mr. Henderson says 
it rots after January. By the way, who will 
give us a simple method for preserving celery 
in Winter, which is adapted to private gar¬ 
dens, where small supplies are wanted fresh 
frequently for the family table? The fact 
probably is, that about one-third of the annu¬ 
al crop is now lost by rot and decay. 
PRICE OF FLOUR. 
With wheat selling at 75 cents in Rochester, 
i N. Y., 42 cents in Nebraska, and 55 cents in 
Minnesota, and at a general average over the 
whole country of 65 cents per bushel, accord¬ 
ing to the latest Department reports, what is 
it that keeps the best wheat flour at 86.50 per 
barrel to consumers in the Hudson River 
j Y alley? Five bushels of good, clean winter 
wheat should make a barrel of flue flour. 
This, at the great Minnesota mills, now costs 
82.75, and perhaps even less. Here is a mar¬ 
gin of 83 75, aside from the middlings, shorts, 
and bran. Assuming that these latter will 
pay for the milling, there is apparently a 
munificent margin for freights and profits. 
There is a wicked corner somewhere when the 
farmer has to sell his wheat at 50 or 60 cents a 
bushel, and the consumer must pay $6 50 a 
barrel for his flour. With the unprecedented 
total wheat production of over 500,000,000 
bushels in the States and Territories for the 
y ear, aud with our mammoth mills turning 
out from 4,000 to 5,OIK) barrels of &>ur per 
day each, it would seem that $3 should buy a 
barrel of the best wheat flour anywhere. 
NOT TOO MUCH GRAPE WOOD. 
Don't leave too much wood on your grape¬ 
vines. It’s a serious mistake, and you can’t 
afford to make it; just what Nature means by 
giving the grape such a lavish spread of vine 
and foliage, remains a subject of some dispute. 
Bat, pending a decision, it is safest to prune 
liberally if grapes are wanted, unless the 
grower is satisfied with unripe and inferior 
fruit. The other day a friend, and well known 
grape grower aud hybridizer, 
went into my garden. 1 thought 
^ euc vlnes closely, but he 
J advised still further reduction, 
and I made it, because he was 
doubtless right. The system used 
is not so important: a few strong, 
healthy canes with buds ready 
for business are the mam requi- 
^ sites. Now I wouder how many 
Sa fe. will doubt me when I say that 
finil Concords are a failure in my gar- 
den. The soil is low, he ivy, aud 
rich. The vine grows out of sight 
almost, the canes can be measured 
|H by the rod; but the fruit sets 
sparingly, aud rarely ripens at 
all, although 1 ent the vines with¬ 
in an inch of their lives every 
year. Regarding the Coucord as 
the poorest apology for a grape 
any way, even wheu well ripen- 
^ od, i shall graft it in the Spring, 
and devote its roots to a better 
purpose Let growers sell it and 
make money, and let writers con¬ 
tinue to regard the Concord as 
the best market grape. I have 
no quarrel with the great mass 
of grape consumers, who are con¬ 
tent with it because they know 
no better, and other kinds are 
scarce and high, but I want some¬ 
thing better every time. 
OUR APPLE EXPORT. 
Our American apple-growers 
will do well to keep an eye on 
their competitors in Nova Sco¬ 
tia. The reports from that pro¬ 
vince during the last year show 
no* #nly a rapid increase in pro- 
THE JAPAN PERSIMMON—DIOSPYROS 
KAKI. 
f e R. MERZEAU, of 
/;Ar\ Richmond County, 
^ Georgia, writes us 
J of this fruit: “I 
have seven kinds of 
f Japan Persimmons, 
sent to me by the 
Department of Ag- 
lAwj'Y^'riculture at VVash- 
f ington.D.C., several 
-rA years ago. The 
sample sent is one of 
the best of them aud 
bears the name of 
Zinkey; still we 
*L have another very 
superior in quality and size, specimens of 
which measured, last year, from four to thir¬ 
teen inches in circumference, and weighed 
from five to seventeen ounces each, and bad, 
•ou a branch 17 inches long, lit well developed 
persimmons of the beautiful vermibon color. 
The fruit of the Japanese Peisiuunon, in size 
and color, varies according to variety—some 
being vermilion aud others orange red. In 
some varieties the fruit is conical, in some 
quite flattened, and in others nearly round 
lu general appearance and shape this per 
simmou considerably resembles a fine, smooth 
tomato. All sorts bear early ou grafted trees. 
Some, two years grafted, bore from 13 to 28 
very fine persimmons. The sample sent the 
Rural is from a tree tbree-and-a half feet 
high aud three years grafted. It bore 61 fine 
fruits. 
The tree grows to perfection here (Rich¬ 
mond County, Georgia). The fruit ripens 
from September loth till after Christmas, and 
will prove an excellent fruit for market, as it 
can be shipped safely to any dis¬ 
tance, eveu as far ns San Fran¬ 
cisco and back, without fear of 
decay. It will not rot, if cut with 
care, but will dry up. The per¬ 
simmon can be dried, the same 
as figs, and will make fine pre¬ 
serves, and a brandy of superior v 
quality, having the flavor of ap- r ; v 
ricot Some of the fruits have fg'i. 
'■ ' • 
no seed, others have from two to 
seveu - Mfc ff 
The Japan Peisimmou cannot , 
be grown from seed, but must be 
grafted on our native sort. Per- , 
simmons can be planted in plots 
four feet square, and t ear got d 
crcps; one has only to keep the 
grass down.” *Q8 | 
The fruit received was as pretty 
as a picture. As shown in Fig. 
47, the stem bore three fine speci¬ 
mens. The color was a deep, 
beautiful crimson, very showy. 
The skin wus very tough and 
hard. The fruit adhered to the 
stalk with a tenacity that defied 
all efforts to remove it except 
with a knife. When first receiv¬ 
ed, the specimens were as bard as 
winter apples, and could have 
been safely shipped to any place '.'fec’jra 
not farther away than London 
or St. Potersburgh; but after a 
while they became mellow, wheu 
the flush was about of the con¬ 
sistency of a very ripe peach—of 
a fiuo coral color; in flavor 
very sweet, rich, though pecu¬ 
liar, and we could readily believe 
they would become great favor- 
RURAL LIFE NOTES, 
Henderson’s white plume celery. 
I have been unable to verify, from my own 
experience the past 
season, all the extrava¬ 
gant claims made for 
this new celery, and 
'■4 ddl seems to be a 
valuable acquisition. 
P Its blanching propen- 
§L sity, however, appears 
less natural and inher- 
gSjfe'i ent than I had been 
led to suppose. Only 
11,0 central stems are 
white naturally, aud 
Mature asks a little as-J 
sistance to complete 
the process for the 
y 4 outer stalks. But the 
jBjjfiKYife u] flavor is certainly ex- 
SSafe r j celleut, and the tex 
P|||S ; i ture is crisp and tend- 
er. Eveu stalks which 
g*;.; - are not wholly white 
jlls jpc V are tender and eat¬ 
able. The bunch is 
also ornamental on the 
W ■ table by reason of the 
V’ white curled foliage 
•° upon the inner stalks. 
But a little l *bauking’’ 
will be necessary for 
the White Plume, I 
think. How well it 
' will keep in Winter I 
JAPANESE PERSIMMON ZINKEY 
■ 
